Log Home Restoration in High Springs, FL

Log Homes in High Springs and Northwest Alachua County

Settlers were living at Crockett Springs, about three miles east of today's High Springs, by the 1840s, but no town grew up until the railroad arrived. In 1884 the Savannah, Florida & Western Railroad was extended from Live Oak to Gainesville, and a station and post office opened here under the name "Santaffey," a common spelling of the nearby Santa Fe River. The town was known unofficially as Orion before it became High Springs in 1888. Phosphate mining set off a boom, and the town incorporated in 1892. By 1900 High Springs was known as an important railroad center.

The railroad decided which towns lived. North of town, Leno had grist mills, a sawmill and six cotton gins. When the railroad was routed through Fort White in 1894, Leno was abandoned within two years. In the 1930s the Civilian Conservation Corps built much of what became O'Leno State Park on that land. Today's log homes around High Springs, Fort White, Newberry and O'Brien sit in the same springs-and-river country: wooded, low in places, and exposed to the Santa Fe when it rises.

What High Springs' Climate Does to a Log Home

• Summer rain. High Springs averages about 51½ inches of rain a year. July and August are the wettest months at a little over 7 inches each, and about 40% of the year's rain falls June through August.
• Heat. About 100 days a year reach 90°F or more, and July highs average about 92°F.
• Cold nights. About 26 nights a year drop to freezing, and January lows average about 40°F.
• River flooding. After Hurricane Irma in September 2017, Alachua County warned that the Santa Fe River was "rising to unprecedented levels," ordered evacuations along creeks and rivers north of U.S. 441, and named High Springs as an affected community. Upstream at Worthington Springs, a USGS river gauge with more than 50 years of records set a new high.
• Tropical downpours. Hurricane Debby (2024) dropped 10.32 inches of rain just west of Newberry. Flooding closed SR-26 at the Gilchrist–Alachua county line.
• Termites. Native subterranean termites are found statewide. They need moisture and forage in the soil, so damp bottom logs are the ones at risk.

What That Means for Your Log Home

Near the Santa Fe or on low ground, the bottom courses of logs take the most punishment from splashback, standing water and floodwater. Keep the ground sloping away from the walls and the lowest logs dry and clear of the soil. After high water or a big storm, have the bottom logs, corners and chinking checked before rot sets in. The yearly routine is the same as anywhere in Florida: an annual log wash with soft brushes and a low-pressure rinse (never a pressure washer) and a UV protective coat every third year, as appropriate.

Related services: Log Rot Repair · Log Home Inspections · Chinking & Caulking

Climate figures: NOAA 1991–2020 normals, High Springs station. Flood and storm details: Alachua County, USGS, NWS Jacksonville. History: Florida historical marker F-217; Florida State Parks.